Mayur Pahilajani - AHN News Writer
New York, NY (AHN) - U.S. futures pointed Wall Street to open down on the last day of holiday-shortened trading week ahead of U.S. jobless figures that is expected to show directions to the traders.
The market analysts are expecting jobs report to show a cut of 363,000 positions in June, which is lower than the 504,000 people fired in April. The unemployment is expected to reach a 26-year high level of 9.6 percent, up from May's 9.4 percent.
The U.S. Department of Labor is expected to disclose data on non-farms payrolls at 8:30 ET today.
"Caution has crept back into the markets this morning ahead of Non-Farm payrolls," David Morrison, CFD Market Strategist at London-based GFT, said today.
Morrison added, "US stock indices are lower across the board, but traders will see the jobs data before the market opens and this will be today's main driver."
On early Thursday in New York, Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures decreased by 4.60 points or 0.50 percent to 914.60 points, Nasdaq-100 Index futures retreated by 5.25 points or 0.36 percent to 1,473.50 points.
At the same time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped by 28.00 points, or 0.33 points, at 8,420.00 points.
The markets in the U.S. are closed Friday for the Independence Day holiday.
"Volumes have been light so far due to the shortened, holiday week and this increases volatility," GFT's Morrison continued.
He added, "In the absence of a nasty surprise from today's numbers, stocks could well push higher ahead of Independence Day. However, they may hit resistance as traders look ahead to 2nd quarter earnings season which kicks off next week."
In other economic reports, the Department of Labor will disclose a weekly reading on initial jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. ET, which are expected to drop to 615,000 last week, from 627,000 the week prior.
After the opening bell, the Commerce Department will reveal data on the May factory orders. Analysts are anticipating the orders to have increased by 0.9 percent, following a rise of 0.7 percent in April.
Investors will keep an eye on airline stocks. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) rated Delta Air Lines Inc., the world's largest carrier, stock as "overweight" in resumed coverage. MS also upgraded Continental Airlines Inc., the No. 4 airline in the country, to "overweight" from "equal-weight" rating.
Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA), the U.S.'s biggest aluminum producer, will kick off the second-quarter earnings season week on July 8.
In the utilities sector, Exelon Corp. (NYSE:EXC) will remain in focus after it increased offer to acquire NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) by 12.4 percent to $7.45 billion.
Oil traded lower towards $69-a-barrel mark as light sweet crude-oil futures for August delivery was moving down by $1 at $68.31 a barrel in electronic trading on early Thursday.
On Wednesday, the front-month contract closed down by 58 cents to $69.31 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange in an overnight trading session on weak economic data.
In currency trading, the yen was slightly stronger as changed hands at 96.65 yen per U.S. dollar in Asia on Thursday, after it closed at 96.67 yen per dollar late Wednesday in Tokyo.
Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved
|
